Wishful Thinking
by IdIoTiC-FrEaK-Of-NaTuRe
Summary: Music and basketball, the only things that Fang and Iggy need to get through the year. Throw in a girl here or there, and they're set. But when things fall apart, will fame get to their heads. Or can they get through it? AH/Fax/Niggy. Was Love Life& Music
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: December 4th, 2011**

**I went back and changed the character names, so now it is characters from MR, with less of my OC's. If you are confused as to who is who, just ask, PM or leave a review, and I'll clear it up. ENJOY!**

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><p><strong>fHope everyone had a great first few weeks of school - school started like... two weeks ago for me, so yeah. For any new readers, this story WAS rewritten, so I hope you enjoy it. F<strong>**or those who were reading the previous version of Love, Life and Music, this one will be very similar, with of course some minor changes. Tell me what you think! :)**

**Oh, and Microsoft Word is being a bitch at the moment, so until I find out what/where the product key is, I'm typing all of this on FF. So if there are any spelling mistakes please forgive me, because I can't spell for shit. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the characters used in MR, or the songs that will be used throughout the story. They all go to their respective owners.**

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><p><strong>Max POV<strong>

"Yo, Max! First day back, if your ass isn't down here in thirty seconds, I'm leaving without you." Iggy yelled up the stairs.

"Ah don't get your tighty whities in a bunch, I'm coming." I said. Grabbing my bag, I spared a glance in the mirror. I wasn't really into fashion, as Nudge would be happy to agree to, but I had to say I looked good. Sliding down the banister, I jumped off at the last second, landing on my feet and throwing my hands over my head. Iggy clapped, laughing at my performance.

"I'd give it an eight, but since your little crack about my underpants – I wear boxers, by the way – I'm giving you a solid seven. Congratulations, Maxine. Now let's make like bananas and split." Glaring, I ushered him out of my house.

"Iggy, baby, we've been over this: You're not funny. Hate to break it to you." I patted his shoulder. He looked down at me, not for the first time, and shook his head.

"Yeah, I am. You just don't wanna admit it."

We headed to the bus stop, sitting down on the grass. It was warm out, even at 8:00 in the morning. "Remind me again why you're so excited to be going back to school, I mean, it's _just _another year."

His blue eyes shined in the sunlight. "It's not _just another year!_ We're _juniors_ this year. That's like… the second most ultimate place to be. And besides, it's a total chance to scope out some fresh meat." He winked, and I let out a shudder. _Fresh meat _to Iggy just meant new girls he could go out with.

"Okay, Ig. Promise me you won't go molesting some freshman. _Please."_ Iggy shrugged, readjusting his guitar case slung over his shoulder.

"Okay," he held up a hand. "I, Iggy Ride, swear not to molest any freshman. Boy Scouts honour." He put a hand to his heart. I looked at him curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"You were a Boy Scout?" He shook his head, his sun-kissed strawberry blonde hair falling into his eyes. "Then your word means nothing to me, does it?" He winked at me, clicking his tongue, standing just as the bus came up. We got on, taking a seat in the back. "Where's Fang?" I asked, a few seconds into the ride.

"He left early, something about meeting Lissa. I took very little interest to the topic, to be honest."

"Totally understandable." I said, watching as he pulled out his iPod. He handed me an earphone. I took it, giggling at the Justin Bieber song that blasted through the speakers.

"Dammit Angel." He scrolled through his list, settling on Maroon 5. "_Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe_…" he hummed softly.

I took the time to study Iggy at the moment. His hair had gotten redder, going from the mostly blonde with reddish tips that it was last summer, now it was blonde, but with highlights from too much time in the sun, and a few splashes of light brown from where he had gotten lowlights. He had gotten a tan, something I didn't manage to accomplish this summer. His eyes were brighter, definitely, resting at a deep seawater blue. He looked older, kinda.

Iggy was definitely the tallest of our group, at just over six feet. Fang, his twin, was next at a little under six feet. I was short, at five-foot-six-and-a-half.

As the song changed, I realized we had already been on the bus for the lengths of two songs. Some rap song with Nicki Minaj played, something about Freddy and Nightmare on Elm Street. Iggy had his eyes closed, his head leaning back on the seat. I smiled, pulling out a pen from my bag. Uncapping it, I looked at it.

"So sorry," I leaned forward slowly, lightly sticking the pen up his nose. It tickled whatever hairs he had up there, effectively making him jump. He glared at me, but I just smiled innocently. "Who me?" He rolled his eyes. As the school came into view, I pulled out my schedule.

"I forgot I had gym today. Dammit." We got off the bus, Iggy with his guitar case in hand. I looked around, seeing a whole bunch of new faces.

"Fresh meat," Iggy stated triumphantly. I scoffed, looking around for someone I knew. "Zach and Josh are over there." I followed his hand to where he was pointing. Sure enough, the two of them were leaning against the wall. We went over to them, and both of them hugged me.

"It's been so long, how was your summer?" Josh asked. I told him, droning on about how boring it was, but how lucky I was to get to spend it with Fang and his girlfriend. They both caught the sarcasm in my voice. "Speak of the devil," I spun around, seeing Fang and Lissa approaching. I rolled my eyes, setting on a half-fake smile.

"Fang!" I ran towards him, and he barely had time to move his arm from around Lissa before I ran into him.

"Hey, Max. Nice to see you too."

I smiled. Fang looked older too. His hair had been cut, so his bangs fell over his eyebrows, a few strands falling into his dark eyes. He put his arms around me, and I felt his abs through his shirt.

"You've been working out," I noticed. He pulled back, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, wanna see?" I nodded, watching as he lifted the bottom of his shirt and flexed.

"So that's a… what? Five and a half pack?" I held back a laugh. He dropped his shirt, lifting one shoulder.

"I'm working on it, leave me be." I laughed at him, turning back to our small group. Everyone looked older: Zach had dyed his hair, so now it was brown with blonde streaks, bringing out his bright green eyes. Josh was born blonde, but at the moment, most of his curls had been dyed neon blue.

"Josh, what's with the hair, man?" Iggy asked, smothering a laugh.

"I was at a party, we were playing TOD, and now my hair is blue. Fill in the blanks."

"You know, I'm almost sixteen, Denis." A familiar voice was saying. "I totally think you should've let me drive. I mean, _someone_ has to teach me." I spun around.

"Den-Den, Nudge! Over here!" The curly haired girl turned, running over to me, her arms out. After all the greeting, and Josh retelling his hair story, the bell rang.

"I'll see you third period." Nudge said, examining her arms. "I got the weirdest tan this summer. I'm like, light brown here, then it's darker here." She pointed to where her skin was two different tones.

"So, I've been patient," Iggy said. "But does the best friend get a hug? I haven't seen you all summer!" Nudge spun around, a smile on her face.

"Well, of course." Then she jumped, like literally _jumped_, into his arms. I pulled out my schedule, looking at my first class. The seven of us — eight if you counted Lissa, but she was busy trying to devour Fang's face— compared our schedules. I had English first with Iggy; then gym with Fang; then music with Josh, Zach and Fang, and finally Art with Iggy and Denis. Nudge and Iggy had Science together third period, and judging by the look Lissa gave me, she was in Fang and me's gym class.

Fun… NOT!

As Iggy and I parted, off in the direction of our first class, he let out a long breath. "Oh thank God!" he said, gulping in large breaths of air. "I honestly think if I'm around her and her rancid perfume for one more second, my nose will fall off."

"I know, right!" I agreed, rubbing the heel of my hands against my eyes. "My eyes are actually burning. How does Fang deal with that?"

"When you figure that out, let me know."

As of the last week of school last year, Fang and Lissa had become a 'thing'. Iggy, as Fang's twin, thought it was more of a 'fling' then anything serious, but after two weeks, he had thought Fang was crazy. In my honest opinion, Fang could do way better.

Like maybe dating Godzilla. Or maybe the little troll that lives under the bridge.

The freaking _shark from Jaws_ would be a huge step up from the evil witch he's seeing now.

If my point hadn't already been made clear, I highly dislike her.

She doesn't like me either, as made very clear by the way she's always glaring at me and flipping me off when Fang isn't looking. Normally, Fang would ask for Iggy's opinion on something like this, but not this time. Iggy _hates_ her too, even more then I do. Everyone does, and therefore thinks Fang is a complete idiot.

"Screw how he deals with the smell," Iggy said as we walked into homeroom. "I want to know how — and why — he deals with her. I mean, even Angel hates her. And I didn't even think Angel could hate _anyone_." Angel was their little sister. She was the most adorable little girl in the world.

Class started soon after, but Iggy and I weren't really paying attention. By the way he was drumming his fingers on the desk, mouthing out words to himself, I supposed he had a new favourite song, either that or he and the guys just finished writing one.

About three years ago Fang, Iggy, Josh, Zach and Denis had got together and formed a band. It used to be just them getting together and mess around with a few random songs, but then a teacher had heard them, and voluntold** [1]** them to play in the talent show. They did, and then decided that they actually really liked doing it. They started playing around school, at assemblies and whatever gig they could get around town. Last year they got really serious about their music, and started writing songs. Denis, Nudge's brother, played drums, and he was freaking _beast_ at them. Zach mostly played bass guitar, but I've seen him mess around with the drums once or twice. Josh stuck to guitar, mainly acoustic but he did have his blood-red electric one. Iggy and Fang were co-singers/lead guitarists. Fang was mostly vocals, but he and Iggy would switch places sometimes for songs that suited Iggy more. In my opinion, backed up by almost everyone else's opinion, they are awesome.

"Max?" I blinked out of my thoughts, seeing Iggy's hand waving in front of my face. "Class is done, and you were totally spacing." I smacked his hand away, standing and picking up my stuff. "Where'd you go?" He asked offhandedly. I looked at him.

His eyes were on some brunette girl talking to her friends. When she made eye contact with him, he winked. "Ig, what did I say about freshies?" I scolded. He looked at me, his eyebrows raised.

"You said no _molesting_," he stretched out the word. "And I won't. You said nothing about going, talking to her… possibly getting her number."

"Iggy—!" he was already ready off in the direction of the girl. I watched him for a second, as he read over her schedule and pointed in different directions.

"He lasted longer than I thought." I nearly jumped at the voice behind me. Spinning around, I saw Fang standing there. "I would've thought he would be at it _before_ classes started." I nodded, falling into step with him. He took my arm as we pushed our way through the crowded hallways.

"How was your summer?" He asked, glancing down at me.

"It was okay; spent a lot of it with Ella. I got to see Ari too."

"That's cool, the last time I saw him he was like six." We reached the music room, seeing Josh and Zach waiting outside. They were talking in low voices, so Fang and I didn't bother to disturb them. We slid down the wall, waiting for the bell to ring.

"I was going for Chinese for lunch. You in?" He asked me, pulling out a pen. He wrote something down on his hand quickly, then clicked the pen and put it back in his bag.

"Oh definitely…" there was this young looking girl walking up to us. She was defiantly a freshy, judging by the map she had in her hands.

"Are you lost?" Fang asked, looking up at her. She sort of jumped, not realizing he was there; she nodded. Fang stood up, taking her schedule from her. "Okay, you're not in the right wing. Your class, 237, is on the other side. Just go all the way down this hall, then make a right—"

"Left. Go left." I corrected.

"—left and then down that hall. At the second right there's this set of stairs, go up, then your class is the first door on the right." The girl thanked him, walking off down the hall. Our teacher, Ms Levi, arrived, letting us into the class. We all sat down: Josh on one side of me, Zach on his side; Fang on my other side. We did this whole 'Intro to Music' thing, then played musical chairs. Yes, you heard me right, 11th graders playing a game mostly for six year olds. After that, we actually did do something school related.

Gym was a little more _entertaining_… or sickening, depending on which way you look at it.

Sure enough, Lissa was in our class. And she turned up wearing these _short_ shorts and a bag shirt that had clearly been cut at the shoulders and at the bottom, so it showed part of her stomach. She waved to Fang, who was pointedly ignoring her, as well as the looks she got from other guys. The teacher blew his whistle, and everyone dropped to one knee.

"Fang, will I be seeing you on the team this year?" Fang looked up from where he was lying on the ground.

"Why of course. All of you would miss me, and I can't let that happen, can I?"

Fang was on the basketball team. Or… he was last year and probably will be this year too. Iggy was also on the team. Fang was also on the soccer team for like a season one year, but decided he hated it; and then last year he had played football, but then an accident with his shoulder had him away from the game forever. He was also on the track team, cause he was just that fast.

Iggy does track too, along with football and baseball. Unlike Fang, Iggy loves playing soccer, but didn't want to actually join the team. All in all, the two of them make a killer team, in pretty much anything they do. Which is probably why they are so popular.

We started with a game of dodge-ball, Fang and Lissa were on the same team, where I was on the other one. Fang sent me a look, one that told me I should run. We all got on our stomachs, then waited for the whistle. Once it went, we got up, charging for the ball. Fang picked up two, tossing one to Justin. I had a red one, and I barely had time to duck before a bright yellow flash whizzed by my head. I literally _felt_ the breeze pass, and looking a Fang, my mouth hanging open. He flashed a smile, winking once before mouthing something.

"You're gonna die!" I shook my head, chucking my ball at him. Because I'm me, it missed him by like a foot. I saw him laugh, ducking away from another ball. Lissa must've saw us taunting each other, because suddenly there was a weak grunt, before another ball was headed my way. I sidestepped easily, avoiding the ball. Picking it up, I threw it at her, nailing her in the stomach. She screeched, stomping to the side, but stopping to whisper something to Fang.

"Watch it, Max." Brian came up to me, a green ball and a purple ball in his hands. He tossed me the purple one. "Lissa's probably got a baby growing in there. Try not to kill it by hitting her stomach." I laughed, stepping away from another throw from Fang. He looked at me and smiled, a devious smile that had me running for cover.

"She'd probably eat it!"

"But Fang wouldn't let her," he said, throwing the ball. I thought about this for a second, then an image of Fang and Lissa in bed popped into my head. _Oh hell, now I have to bleach my brain._

"Then it would have a daddy that loves it. Its mom would still be a witch though." We kept talking throughout the game, and eventually I did hit Fang, about the same time he hit me. Plus side: I nailed him between his legs, sending him wobbling to the sidelines. I thought I heard Lissa ask him if he wanted her to help him make it feel better, but he shook his head, unnoticeably moving away from her.

"Slut much?" The girl beside me asked, looking disgusted. I turned to her.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it…" We got to talking, turns out her name was Kate.

She was really pretty, with long brownish-blonde hair that was currently up in a ponytail. And she was shorter than me, so that's a plus on her part. She was new, and just moved here from Canada. I could tell that much from her accent. I asked her if she'd made any friends yet, and when she said no, I offered to sit with us at lunch.

"Mind you, you might have to put up with Lissa sucking Fang's face off. It's actually really disturbing. But everyone else is cool." She agreed, then the bell rang. Fang, Kate and I ditched Lissa in the change rooms, heading for lunch.

Fang's plans for Chinese food were kind of forgotten, so we all just bought lunch and headed outside. We had our own little spot at the front of the school, and Josh, Zach and a few of the guys were already there.

There was Nudge, Iggy's best friend. She's 15, but does grade 11 science. She's black with curly light brown hair, and a strange obsession to Justin Bieber. I'm talking the nail polish, posters and locker magnets.

Then there was Denis, Nudge's brother. He's 17 and the drummer in Fang's band. Beside him was Zach, who's 16 – 17 in November – and plays guitar. Josh was there too, Zach's cousin. He was examining a lock of blue hair steadily. Iggy was lying on his back, ear buds in his ear.

"You guys, this is Kate." I introduced, gesturing at the girl beside me. Iggy's head snapped up, both of the buds falling from his ears. He studied her for a few moments, before she finally said something.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Iggy's eyes widened, clearly amused.

"I have art with you, right?" He asked after a second. Kate nodded, going and sitting down beside him. They got to talking – something about the teacher they had. I felt arms suddenly around me, lips pressing against the back of my neck.

"I missed you," A deep voice mumbled behind me. I turned around, seeing the familiar hazel eyes and dark brown curls.

"Hey, Derek." Iggy said from his place on the ground. Derek nodded at him, and I shook my head at the whole I'm-A-Guy-And-I'm-Way-Too-Cool-To-Say-Hi-So-I'm-Just-Going-To-Nod-Silently thing…

.o.O.o. .x.X.x. .o.O.o.

**[1] Voluntold – **_**verb**_**. To be volunteered to do something by someone else, but you have no choice but to do it. **

**Tell me what you think, should I keep the LLM the way it is now, or go along with the new one. Personally, I think the new one would be better, but it's up to you. I hope everyone had a great summer, and if you want, leave me a review with the coolest thing you did this summer. Mine: I went to Wonderland, Canada's epic theme park, for those of you that didn't know. I almost went on Wind-Seeker: this tower-like thing that's **_**301**_** feet in the air (that's such a random number!) but it came out this year and the line-up was HUGE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter may be late, it supposed to be up on Saturday, but I didn't really plan out this chapter, and I've been putting it off all week. So if it sucks, I'm terribly sorry. Anyways, happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian buddies. Honestly, I think Thanksgiving should be on Tuesday or Thursday, so I could call it Turkey Tuesday or Thanksgiving Thursday. Maybe it's just me.**

**Whatever.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of MR, the songs used in this story, or these annoying freaking disclaimers.**

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><p><strong>Fang POV <strong>

"Are you guys practicing today?" Holden asked. It was Saturday, finally, and we were all standing somewhere in the kitchen. I was in the fridge; Iggy was sitting at the table, eating cereal; and Holden was leaning on the counter, waiting for the microwave to beep.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Zach and Josh are coming around noon, then Dee is bringing Nudge over at 12:30." I said, pulling out a carton of chocolate milk. I looked in the cupboard, not finding any glasses.

"They're all in the dishwasher," Holdenf said, pulling out his dish from the microwave. "Meaning one of you—" someone knocked at the door, interrupting him. "Has to empty it." He finished, going to open the door. Angel walked in the kitchen, her hair everywhere, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey sweetie," I said, bringing the carton to my mouth.

"That's so gross, Fang. Like, seriously." I smiled, looking at her.

"No, you wanna see gross?" I took another gulp, gargling it for a few seconds before opening my mouth, swallowing. She covered her eyes, going over to the table.

Holden walked up again, Max behind him. "Do you ever eat at your house?" Iggy said, taking his bowl to the sink. He went to the stove, pulling out a pan.

"Everyone wants eggs?" I nodded, as did Max and Angel. Mom came rushing in the kitchen, already dressed and ready to go.

"Good morning, kids." She said, opening the fridge. "What are everyone's plans for today?"

"The guys are coming, we're going to practice for a little then go play ball at school." I said.

"I've got homework." Iggy said, reaching around her to get the egg carton.

"I'm probably just going along with Fang," Max said, sitting up on the counter. "Oh, but then I've got plans with Dylan."

"I'm going out," Holden said, munching on his leftover lasagne. When mom raised an eyebrow, he continued. "Getting my laptop fixed, going shoe shopping, and I'm getting that tattoo I was telling you about." I spun around, looking at him.

"So, he's allowed to get _another_ tattoo, but I can't get one. What is this!" Holden laughed at me, continuing eating.

"What are you getting?" Max asked. I called her a traitor, going to the fridge and taking out the bacon, putting it on the counter beside Iggy.

Holden proceed to show her the picture on his phone, the words 'My Angel Forever,' in Chinese writing, down the length of his forearm.

"Where's your other one?" She asked, he held up his wrists, showing her the black bracelets he'd got last year, and then the Ride crest he got the second he turned eighteen, behind his ear. "So… you've got three, and you're getting another one.

"No! The bracelets are one, it's a set. So this is my third."

"Anyways, I've got to go, have fun everyone." Mom kissed everyone, then left the house. Iggy finished up with breakfast, dishing out my, Angel's and Max's food.

After breakfast, Max and I went up to my room, while Iggy and Angel watched cartoons in the living room. "So, what are your so-called plans with Dylan later?" I asked, sitting down at the desk. She laid down on the bed, making herself comfortable.

"We're going to see a movie. Probably Transformers, I guess." I raised an eyebrow, showing I heard her. "What are you guys practicing for?"

"We got a gig at Tags. And then another one at Angel's school. They want us to promote anti-something." I said off-headedly. "I'm assuming it's bullying or something like that, but I wasn't really listening." I sent her a toothy smile, squinting my eyes.

"Alright!" Josh walked into the room dramatically, his guitar case slung over his shoulder. "I'm here – your lives just got better." I didn't look up, and judging by the silence of the room, no one else did either. I heard Angel giggle.

"Hi Joshy." I looked up, spinning in the chair. She'd hugged him, the only person that had showed any acknowledgement to him.

"Iggy, did you finish the movie for the bullying thing?" Zach asked after taking his notebook out of his bag. Iggy pulled a black USB from his pocket, waving it in the air.

"It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself."

He plugged it into the laptop on the desk, opening up the video and pressing play. It started off with a dark slide that said 'Bullying Sucks.' Then the image changed to a shot of Iggy, Dylan and Max sitting at a table. Zach walked in, trying to balance his tray of food. Dylan pointed to him, then the three of them laughed when Iggy stuck his foot out. Of course, Zach tripped, his tray flying out in front of him. He rolled over, giving a view of the sauce stain on his shirt.

"I loved that shirt," Zach said sadly, causing us all to chuckle. The video went on, and Iggy ended up saying something stupid in one of his classes, and everyone except Zach laughed.

A pretty mediocre bullying video at the least.

"Alrighty then, now that that's done," Josh said slowly, reaching into his bag and pulling out his notebook. "I had something I think we should try." He pushed it into the middle of the little circle we had formed. Denis looked it over, mouthing notes to himself before standing and going over to the drum set. He found the drawer with the sticks in it, pulling out a pair and banging a section of Josh's song. He looked really into it, but suddenly stopped, frowning.

"It needs to be faster. Like…" he demonstrated, and I plugged in my guitar. Playing along, Zach and Josh joined in. after everyone had gotten the rhythm of it, Iggy picked up the notebook.

"_I look around, round, look around and look it over,  
>I take it up- up, take it out and, take you nowhere,<br>Trading in who I've been for shiny celebrity skin  
>I like to push it and, push it until my luck is over." <em>

We kept playing, getting through the one that we named Celebrity Status, Dirty Little Secret and Time After Time before Holden came up.

"You guys are getting better at that last one." He said, walking into the room and pushing me off my chair. I told him to suck it, but he just waved me off. We kept practicing for a little while longer, before Max, Holden and Angel went back downstairs.

"I need water." Zach said, gasping in air as we finished the last of the set. We were pretty sure we had perfected each song, so we packed up and called it a day.

"Come on, I'm ready to go smash you in ball." I laughed at Iggy's enthusiasm, standing and grabbing the basketball. We ran down to Angel's school, because it was closer than going all the way to the high school. We split into teams: Me, Josh and Denis vs. Iggy, Zach and Holden. Angel and Max were on the swings.

"D go left!" I shouted, pivoting to keep the ball away from Holden. Denis swivelled around Iggy, getting to the point and shooting. Swish.

"And that's 21. Game." Me and Josh did the running-shoulder thing, while Denis had his hands on his knees, panting. Holden shook his head, jogging over to where he had tossed his sweater.

"I gotta go; Jamie just got back." I looked at him, wondering how that information was significant in any way. "Gonna go get my tattoo now," he said in a sing-song voice. I glared at him, flipping him off before running to Max.

"How'd the game go?" She asked, her feet swinging lazily against the ground. I went up behind her, putting my hands on the chains.

"We won, 21-18." I told her, watching over her shoulder as she looked through her phone.

"Oh, Lissa called, by the way." I held back a groan. "She said she was going to come by soon. " This time I did groan, making Max smile. "You are aware that your girlfriend sis a bitch, right?"

I mock-glared down at her. "Don't talk about her like that." I said, and for a second, Max looked taken aback. Then we both burst out laughing.

"But really," Max started as she calmed down. "Why are you dating her? Last time I checked, you were a smart guy. What in your right mind told you to go out with that… _thing?_" I cracked a smile.

"Maybe I like her, did you ever think of that?" Max frowned, staring at her shoes.

"You don't really seem like the type of guy to –" I smiled, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Good, because I'm not." She looked up, totally confused. "She knows something about me, and I was blackmailed into dating her. She's just using my insanely good looks to get to some other guy." I scratched my stomach, taking the chains of the swing and pushing her slowly.

"What's the deep dark secret that _I_ don't know about you, Nicholas." I glared at her for calling me by my real name; something she only did when she was mocking me. I stopped the swing, leaning to whisper in her ear.

"I see dead people." I whispered slowly. Max sighed in annoyance, and pushed off the swing.

"Everybody knows there's _something_ wrong with you Fang. Not much of a secret." I laughed, stretching my arms.

"Fang!" Angel cried from her place near the monkey bars. I looked up, seeing her on the ground, clutching her arm. "Fang!" I ran to her, crouching beside her. Judging by the look on her face, she had fallen and landed on her arm, but it wasn't broken. I picked her up, careful to avoid her arm. The guys had come over, wondering what had happened. We left the park then, walking home. 10 minutes later, Angel was sitting on her bed, an icepack pressed to her arm. "I slipped and hurt my arm." was what she told me and Iggy. Zach had to leave once we got here, but Josh had stayed with Angel for almost twenty minutes, making sure she was okay. Max and I were standing on the porch, waiting for Lissa to arrive. I was leaning against the fence-type-thing on the edge, Max beside me.

"I think Angel has a crush on Josh." I said slowly, looking out onto the street, counting passing cars.

"She does, that's adorable!" A yellow car passed, and I poked Max's shoulder thoughtlessly.

"No, it's weird. She shouldn't be liking boys at her age. Especially not guys that are twice her age."

"Aw, look at you acting like an older brother, that's cute. But look me in the eyes and tell me you were crushing at her age." I looked into her light brown eyes, the same eyes she said resembled un-barfed chocolate.

"I'm still crushing." I told her. She looked at me, clearly confused, but forgot about it as another yellow car passed by. She left ten minutes later, going off to meet up with Dylan.

"Still crushing… and she doesn't even know." I whispered to myself, going back inside.

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><p><strong>Max POV<strong>

"Honestly, I don't understand how you dragged me into that movie."

"What are you saying? You loved it."

"There's no way they could transform into robots, and then get all beat up, yet the cars come out all shiny. It's scientifically impossible."

"So is the whole idea of transforming cars that are attempting to take over the world." I pointed out, sitting up on the counter. Dylan came over to me, putting his hands on the counter behind me. I wrapped my ankles around his torso, pulling him closer and tangling my fingers in his hair.

"When are you going home?" He asked slowly.

"Nothing's planned for today, so it doesn't matter. When does your sister get back?" He smiled.

"Around five." He checked the time on the microwave. "We've got an hour." I smiled, pulling his face closer. He kissed me softly, letting his lips linger on mine for a few seconds.

Kissing Dylan was easy, almost natural now. It used to be weird, not only because he was almost a full year older than me, but also because he was one of Fang's closest friends, and I kind of felt bad for dating him. After a while, Fang didn't seem to mind as much, so there was a lot less tension when I was with Dylan around Fang.

It totally vanished, however, once Fang started dating Lissa.

"Come on, I have homework, and you're going to help me with it." He lifted me off the counter, taking my hand and leading me upstairs. I ran to his bed, flopping down in the fluffy comforter. He hadn't bothered to make it this morning, so it us uneven.

"You're a slop, you know." I said, getting comfortable.

"A sexy, sexy slop." He winked at me, bending down to get his bag. He pulled out a textbook, a light blue folder and three notebooks. "Find some way to entertain yourself;" he said slowly. "Hutton totally loaded us with math." He glared at the textbook – a 500 page book with uneven edges and duct tape on the spine. The book was older than the students using it.

"Where's your phone; that's always entertaining." He patted his back pockets, pulling it out and passing it behind to me. I unlocked it, typing it the password. Scrolling through the apps, I went through a few songs in Tap-Tap Revenge, before settling on Angry Birds. "Die you pigs, die!" Dylan shot me a look, one that told me he thought I was losing my mind.

Meh.

'_Wanna get a mansion, a Jacuzzi, a theater to watch my movies– ' _his phone buzzed, scaring the crap out of me. It was a text. I opened it, reading it aloud.

"Brittney wants to know how her 'favourite cutie is doing.'" I said, giggling. Dylan groaned, spinning around to look at me.

"Don't you hate it when a girl just won't give up. Like, I've told her about a million times that I'm _not interested_, she just doesn't get it."

"Oh," I leaned back into the pillows. "It's the _worst._" He waved his hand, allowing me to respond however I wanted. I smiled. Tapping the keys, I finished up quickly. 'Oh, he's fine. I mean he's got his girlfriend here, right?' I told her where she needed to stick it, before telling her not to text him again.

"I love you, you know?" He said after I read it to him. I smiled, closing his texts and going back to my game.

"Obviously." He stood up, hovering over me. Dylan played football, AKA he was freaking _huge!_ He kissed me slowly, his mouth moving against my for a few seconds. My hands went up, my fingers tangling themselves in his silky hair.

"Ahem." We both jumped apart, and I felt my cheeks heat.

"Hey, Stacy, you know, a few years ago, this one guy invented this system." Dylan told her. "What was it called…" he tapped his chin a few seconds, mock thinking. He snapped. "Oh right, _knocking_. It shows you have at least a little respect of the other person's privacy."

"I know," she said, leaning against the doorframe. "Which is exactly why I didn't knock." Dylan's sister was pretty, with flowing light brown hair and sparkling green eyes. She was in her third year university, so Dylan didn't really get to see her a lot. I knew it bothered him sometimes, being the only child at home without her. She was leaving tomorrow, so he was trying to get as much time in with her as he could.

"What do you want?" He asked, rolling off of the bed and standing in front of her. I sat up.

"Mom made dinner, so she made me come and get you and Maxi." I glared playfully at her. Dylan pushed past her, heading down the stairs.

"He misses you," I said, standing and walking down the stairs with Stacy beside me.

"I know; I miss him, too. Thanks for being here – with him. It makes it easier for him." I nodded, shoving my hands in my pockets. Dylan was play fighting with his mom, and had spaghetti sauce on his nose. I went up to him, putting my hands on his shoulders and kissing the sauce off his nose.

"Yum." I whisper. We all sat down, and conversations floated from Stacy's boyfriend and her schoolwork, to Dylan's homework, to how my life is going. Somehow, the topic landed on Fang and the guys and their music.

"They're getting so good. Like, _Justin Bieber_ worthy good." I said enthusiastically.

"So… in other words, they suck." Leave it to Dylan to hate on Justin Bieber.

"Okay," I rethought my words. "Maybe I worded that wrong. They are just awesome alright." Dinner went on like that, and before long, it was almost 9:30. Dylan had agreed to walk me home, instead of driving me.

"Why would I pass up spending more time with my favourite girl?" He'd said. We stepped out into the late September sunset, and Dylan slipped his hand in mine. We walked in silence for a few minutes, before he finally said something. "I missed you this summer."

"I missed you too. How was Italy?"

"It sucked: you weren't there." He frowned. "Six weeks with Stacy and my mom." I laughed at the look he gave me. We continued talking for about ten minutes, before falling into a comfortable silence. We had reached my house. "I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed my cheek, pulling me into a short hug. I went up the stairs, opening the door. He waved, before turning and running off.

"Okay, he is _so_ sexy." Ella said, standing at the top of the stairs once I was inside. I rolled my eyes at her.

"And he's all mine, so stay away." She smiled at me, going back into her room.

I plopped down on my bed, feeling my phone buzz. _**Hey :) **_A text from Fang. I looked out the window at his house, seeing his light off.

_I'm going to change into my PJ's. hold on a sec. _

_**K. how was the movie?**_I quickly changed into my blue Winnie the Pooh PJ's, turning off the light and retrieving my phone.

_Dylan said he hated it, but you know he thinks it was epic x10._

_**LOL he's weird. (:**_

_How's Angel's arm?_

_**She's fine, she just landed on it, so it hurt like a bitch. Nothing major though.**_

We kept texting each other until maybe 1 in the morning, before I asked him a question.

_Fang, if I asked you something, would you give me an honest answer?_

_**Yeah, what's up?**_

_What does Lissa know? About you, I mean._ He didn't respond for a few minutes, and I started to worry. _Fang?_

_**My phone's gonna die. Talk tom, OK? **_I groaned, pissed off that he wouldn't tell me.

_Fine. Goodnight._

_**Night.**_

I turned my phone off after that, wondering what it was that Fang had to keep a secret.

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><p><strong>I was reading the reviews for the original LLM a few days ago, and I wrote down some of the suggestions there were, and I promise I'll get them all in somewhere. I have homework to do now, so peace out. Remember to look out for Harder to Breathe next week; first two chapters are up. <strong>

**Thought of the Day: If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes…?**

**See you in two weeks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**EDIT – December 4****th****, 2011.**

**PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!**

**I went back and took out a few of my OC's, and replaced them with actual MR characters. So you might want to go back and read chapter one, because all the changes have been made. Oh, and I guess you may have noticed that I changed the title of this story. I originally wasn't going to, because I had planned for it to be like the original version. But as I continued to write it out, ideas changed, so now this is its own story. **

**Also, for my MI fic, what I did was I created this chapter-by-chapter outline for what is going to happen. I think I'll do that for LLM too, but you're going to have to give me a few weeks to do it. My writing sucks under pressure.**

**Evil: Oh, and since I'm working on this right now, I figured I'd pop in and say hi! No, no, I don't write these things for Idiotic Freak, I'm helping her with this chapter and giving her ideas on where to go. She sent it to me to tweak. So I'm tweaking her AN. :)**

**Disclaimer: Idiotic Freak owns nothing of MR, or of the songs used in the fic. All rights go to James Patterson and the respective artists.**

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><p><strong>Fang POV<strong>

"Alright, before you all start packing up – Noah – I want to remind you that Grade 9 Day is today. Is there anyone that will be participating in that?" I raised my hand, seeing Noah, Josh, Matt and Iggy do the same. I nudged Sarah, who put her hand up as well. "Okay, the six of you need to see me after class to find out what you'll be missing. And I believe Ms. Russo wanted to see you at lunch. Have a good day." Mr. Ireland went back to his desk, leaving everyone to amuse themselves for the last five minutes. I quickly scribbled down the homework, stuffing the notebook into my backpack and checking the time on my phone – screw reading analog clocks! Lissa had texted me a few times during class, going on about how boring her math class was and how Joyce was being a bitch again.

Did I care? Not really.

Max had also sent one, asking where I'd be for lunch. I hid my phone under the table: _Meeting w/ Ms. Russo – gr. 9 day. U? _I sent it, looking at Iggy.

"We still have try-outs afterschool, right?" I asked, shrugging my bag over my shoulder. The bell rang, and we picked up the sheet Mr. Ireland had left for us.

"Yeah, but I have to get my shoes from your car." It was lunch now, and the halls were filled with people trying to get to their lockers, and groups that found it necessary to talk in the _middle_ of the hallway. We stopped at my locker, and I put away the books I had, switching them for what I needed for after lunch. Iggy decided he would just go to his locker later, so we headed to the S.A.C. office, where we were supposed to meet up with Ms. Russo.

There were about forty other kids there, most of them from grade eleven or twelve, just hanging around the room. Ms. Russo walked in a few minutes after Iggy and I got there. "Hello everyone thanks for being here on time."

Ms. Russo was the type of teacher every teenage guy dreams about. I mean that literally. She was hot, and would always wear these skirts that would show off her legs. And she was shorter than us. Bottom line, she was totally DTF.

"Okay, so I need you all to split into groups of five. Two of each group will be leading your group of ninth graders; the other three will be leading the activity. You can do that now." I got in a group with Iggy, Nudge, Noah and a girl I didn't recognize by face, but knew her from my Music class. Iggy decided we were going to be the blue team. Once we all got into groups, we were given the list of niners that would be on our team. I looked over it, recognizing two of the kids I might have went to school with.

"What do you think about Max's friend?" Iggy asked me after the meeting. I looked at him, trying to remember what friend he was talking about.

"You mean Kate?" Iggy nodded. "She's hot." He nodded, and we turned a corner, heading towards the main hall. We pushed through the doors, heading towards the tree we usually ate near.

"Yeah, she's cool." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You like her, like... _like_ her." He shrugged, and we saw our group coming into view. The subject was dropped quickly. Max looked up first.

"Where's the slut?" I jerked a finger behind me at Iggy, who slapped me. Everyone else laughed. I sat down beside Max, pulling out the taco I had brought. "No, seriously."

"I don't know, probably still wheeling Neil," I said slowly, taking a bite. Max stared at me, the rest of the group deep into another conversation.

"Why do you keep dating her, if you _know_ she trying to get with all these other guys? Doesn't that bother you, even a little?" I shook my head, shrugging wordlessly. "What happened to you Fang?" I looked at her. "The Fang I know doesn't put up with shit like that." She stood up, grabbing her bag and walking away. I bit my lip, frowning.

"Dude," my eyes snapped up to meet Josh's. "Go after her, _please_. It's actually so obvious you both like each other. And you dating that slut – no matter how many times you may or may not get laid – it's not helping." I raised a brow at Josh's sudden concern, but packed up and slung my bag over my shoulder, heading in the direction Max had gone.

Once I was in the main hall, I looked around. It was a big school, there were a million and one places she could be. _Think, Fang, think._ If my life were a cartoon, a light bulb would have appeared over my head, and there would be corny suspenseful music played from somewhere in the background as I ran towards the music room. Sure enough, Max was there, sitting on one of the desks and talking to a teacher in the room. I waited outside the door, ducking around the corner as I saw Lissa walk passed.

"You shouldn't have to hide from your girlfriend, Fang." I looked up to see Max standing in front of me.

"What's your deal, anyways? Why do you care so much about me and Lissa?"

"Because, you're my best friend, Fang. And I don't want you getting hurt, especially not by her."

"I won't, trust me." I reached out, pulling her into a hug. "But thanks for caring." I pulled back after a few seconds, suddenly missing her warmth. "You don't have to worry about me, though. I'm a big boy!" I sent her a toothy grin, causing her to laugh. Our little Hallmark moment was sadly interrupted not ten seconds later.

"Hi Fangy!" I cringed as my name was screeched down the halls. I slowly turned around, not releasing Max's hand. Lissa and her wannabes marched – no, literally _marched _–towards us. "Hey cutie," she looked behind me at Max, "hi ugly." I was about to say something, but Max beat me to it.

"Hi Lissa, how's the green today?" I raised an eyebrow, as did the rest of the wannabes and Lissa.

"What green?" Lissa asked, for the first time ever, _not _sounding like a total airhead. Everyone looked at Max, whose hand was still in mine.

"From your golf course:" Max said matter-of-factly. "You know, that whole 'Come Enjoy My Holes!' thing you've got going." It took me a second to figure it out, but I sniffled loudly, to hold back from laughing out loud. Lissa yelled out a string of profanities, effectively hushing the hallways. I bit back another laugh as Dr. – according to the certificate in his office – Gunther-Hagen came up. The principle was a fat man, with beard and a face that could scare off Chuck Norris.

Bottom line: he was someone you _don't _want to mess with.

"Miss Walters, I really hope that wasn't you." He approached the crowd, and Max quickly put her phone back in her pocket. Everyone that had surrounded us tried to look preoccupied, but it was so obvious that they had been listening. Lissa looked at me guiltily, but followed Dr. G-H to his office. I turned to Max, and we both burst out laughing.

"You're a friggen genius, you know?" She nodded; taking my hand and leading me back outside.

It was darker by the time lunch finished, and it looked like it was going to rain. But we were outside anyways: the music blasting from the table set up at the side of the field. I saw Iggy walk out, drenched in blue paint from head to toe. Well, it was actually just his arms and legs that were covered, but it had gotten all over his clothes, and we had attacked him with face paint and a Sharpie, so now he hand a bright blue mustache, war-paint lines under his eyes, and a large blue '8' on the back of his shirt. I had my cans of Silly Spray – which was also blue – in both hands.

Noah had a sign in his hands, and was standing on a chair waving the 'BLU 8' sign around. After about ten minutes, most of the niners had filed out and gotten into their respective groups. I patted my pockets, trying to find the list of kids. I read off names, hearing each one of them say 'here' before applying the face paint on them.

"Can I have a moustache?" One kids asked. I shrugged, squirting some paint onto my finger and giving him one of the curly French moustaches. After giving the other kids the war paint, and covering their faces with a bright blue hand print, the games were ready to begin.

The first event was the Creepy Crawler. The kids had to do a summersault, the grab the basketball and crab-crawl their way through an obstacle course. We ended up winning that round and the two events after it.

"The next one is Tug of War," the girl announced. Kate's team lined up on one side of the mat, my team lined up on the other. Iggy, Kate and I, stood at the side, letting the two teams battle it out.

"Let's make a deal," Iggy turned to Kate. "If my team end up winning, you'll agree to dance with me."

Kate looked as if she was considering, before she finally said, "sorry, I don't make deals with Smurfs." I chuckled from my spot, blowing the whistle, signalling for both teams to start pulling.

"Okay," Iggy said slowly. "How about this: if my team wins the _whole thing_, then we dance. If not, I'll make an absolute fool of myself in front of everyone." Kate smiled, extending her hand. Once they shook hands, Iggy turned to the team.

"Come on guys, I have my life riding on this." He started cheering them on, and they won the first one. Sadly, we lost the second match.

"Tie breaker?" Kate offered. One of the kids, I'm pretty sure his name was Matt, looked up. He challenged us to a match, and – after sending an evil glance to Kate and Iggy – we accepted. There were five kids on each team, so half of them sat out, mostly the girls.

Iggy, Kate, Noah and I lined up on one side of the mat, the other six kids on the other side. We won, swag points to us.

We packed up our team and went to the next stations, one in which I was covered in Life-Savers candies. My entire arm was pretty sticky after that. Iggy had been doing a bunch of different aerobatics in front of the kids: back and front flips and dancing with the cheerleaders. I won't bore you with the rest of the events. To sum it all up, we ended up winning seven of the ten events, one of which I ended up being covered in Lifesaver candies.

The day ended up finishing early, so all of the leaders got together, deciding to continue playing music. Noah stood on the table, his hands cupped around his mouth. Someone tossed him a whistle, and he blew it a few times, getting everyone's attention. Everyone turned to face him.

"I've got the results!" He yelled, holding up a sheet of paper. "In fourth place, with a combined total of 26 games, the green team!" People cheered, green strings of Silly Spray going up into the air. Noah waited for them to shut up, before continuing. The yellow team was in third, with 29 wins. I caught Iggy glance at Kate, who smiled knowingly. "In second place, with 33 wins is… the red team!" The team cheered, as did ours. Noah hopped off the chair, and the music started again.

Teach Me How to Dougie came on, and somehow, a large circle was formed, a few of the 12th graders getting in the middle of it. Three songs later, and the whole Grade Nine Day had turned into a NC-17 dance party, complete with couples grinding to the point where it could be classified as sex-with-clothes-on. I had cleverly avoided Lissa, who was probably stalking Neil to dance. Max was dancing on me, her back to me as the song changed. Right before words came, it stopped. We all looked towards the DJ, about to boo, before we all saw Dr. G-H, holding a microphone.

"This is not a school dance, break it up! The day is over, now, everyone go home!" To emphasize his point, he unplugged the cord leading to the speakers, before heading back into the school. I shrugged, saying goodbye to my team before picking up the mats from our station. Nudge came up to me, a bundle of hula-hoops on her arm.

"Have you seen Iggy?" She asked. I piled another mat, nodding for her to get the other side. We lifted it up, waddling towards the school.

"I think he went to shower. He still has to pick up Angel. Then we have try-outs like… now." She nodded as we got to the storage room in the gym, flopping the mats down.

"I gotta go, I have this ISU that I haven't even started yet. Tell Ig to call me. Bye Fangy!" She hugged me quickly, running off.

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><p><strong>Iggy POV<strong>

The sound of shoes squeaking, the ball going through the net, sweaty guys yelling stupid things at each other. It's always something to look forward to.

I looked at Angel quickly, colouring her picture on the bleachers at the side. Fang passed me the ball, and I spun around, carefully to keep my elbow down as some guy tried to cover me. I took a step, faking left and tossing the ball over to Andrew, escaping the guard of the guy. Andrew ran up the court, sending the ball to Fang, who faking and tossed it to me. I took a shot, hitting the rim.

"This net it CURSED!" I yelled again. And it was; that was the fourth open shot I had rimmed. Fang got the rebound, high-fiving me. We got off the court, high-fiving Andrew as we watched the next ten guys play.

"Is this almost done, Fang? I wanna go home." Fang looked at Angel, then at her picture.

"Almost, kiddo, twenty minutes." He wiped the sweat off his forehead, picking up my water bottle.

Try-outs went by quickly after the scrimmages, and coach called everyone as we were packing up.

"Okay, good job everyone. I'm glad to see a lot of new faces. We've decided to skip the second cut; we've got a pretty sure idea of our team. So, I'd like to thank everyone for coming out today, the final cut will be posted on Tuesday." Coach nodded to everyone, signalling we were free to go. Fang and I were going to shower at home, so I threw on my jacket and picked up my bag.

Angel and I raced to the car, waiting for Fang.

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><p><strong>This chapter was actually going to kill me. I had no idea how to finish it. First update of the year, I'm pretty okay with it. Look out for HtB, I'll update that eventually. Not much of a reason for the lateness, writers block… blah … school… blah… hope you enjoyed it, leave a review.<strong>

**I hate it, really I do. The next one will be better, promise. Happy New Year everyone! **


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